With a national title on the line in a do-or-die game, there doesn't seem to be much worry, if any at all, throughout the Oklahoma Sooners' locker room. In fact, the word that was used most just moments after a massive loss was actually "excited."
No. 5 national seed North Carolina, after losing to Oklahoma in Game 1 on Saturday, responded with a 6-2 win on Sunday to force an "if necessary" Game 3 for Monday night that will be for all the marbles. The winner of that will be national champion, while the loser finishes the season with a loss just like everyone else.
That's a lot of pressure on Skip Johnson and his team, but they don't seem to feel it. That mindset, which OU softball coach Patty Gasso described as "freedom," was easy to keep when the Sooners had nothing to lose, but now they have everything to gain.
Sooners face North Carolina with national title on the line but seem unbothered
"I think those guys will be ready to play," Johnson said during the postgame press conference. "I mean, we've faced adversity all year long and dealt with it. We have a lot of good leaders on our team. And I think it will be good. I think they'll pick each other up like they have all year long. They're selfless players. And I'm really excited for tomorrow, and can't wait to get here."
Just a few weeks ago, these same Sooners recovered from 21 losses from their overall disappointing regular season to put together one of the most unbelievable runs college baseball has ever seen. They had a losing SEC record at 14-16, had lost four straight conference series and had dropped seven of their last 10 games. No one could have been more down at the worst time than Oklahoma.
But the rest is history as Johnson witnessed from the dugout his squad take out the conference champions from the SEC, ACC and Big 12 on its way to the MCWS championship series as an unseeded team.
During all that, though, the Sooners never really had anything to lose. Every win, whether early on in the Atlanta Regional or now in the MCWS, seemed like a gift. That made Oklahoma a group that should be happy just to even be in Omaha. That makes it a lot easier to be positive and carefree with no expectations or chance of disappointment.
Read more: If any team can survive this CWS do-or-die moment it’s these Oklahoma Sooners
Nearly a month later with 22 days between losses, this is really the first time the Sooners have had anything to lose. They went from having nothing to everything to lose in nine innings. Yet, Johnson is sure nothing will change for his team from during its revival. And that all starts up top with him as Johnson's players echoed him in the press conference even before he spoke on the matter.
“I think we're excited,” outfielder Trey Gambill said. “Obviously tough loss today. But I don't think we overly care. We know that we still have the opportunity to win the national championship.”
Add us as a preferred source on Google